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Boulder County churches will celebrate Easter with sunrise services

By Magdalena WegrzynLongmont Times-Call

Posted:
04/05/2012 09:01:38 PM MDT

Updated:
02/12/2013 08:21:16 PM MST

The Rev. Martin Lettow of Shepherd of the Hills Lutheran Church in Gunbarrel leads a sermon on Easter 2008 as the sun rises over the Boulder Reservoir. This Sunday will mark the 17th year that Shepherd of the Hills and Trinity Lutheran Church in Boulder have hosted a sunrise Easter service at the Boulder Reservoir. (File photo)
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CLIFF GRASSMICK
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LONGMONT -- Chances are that when the sun rises at 6:33 a.m. this Easter Sunday, it'll be seen by a lot more people than usual.

About 10,000 faithful gather annually for an Easter sunrise service at Red Rocks Amphitheater near Morrison. The Colorado Council of Churches, a coalition of more than a dozen denominations, presents the annual service. Gates open at 4:30 a.m., and the service begins at 6 a.m. Admission and parking are free, and worshipers are asked to bring nonperishable food items for the COMPA Food Bank Ministry.

For local folks who can't make the trek to Red Rocks, the service is also streamed live at netcastvideo.com/ccc-easter.htm. And a handful of Boulder County churches are planning sunrise Easter services in Colorado's great outdoors.

Easter, which Christians believe marks the resurrection of Jesus Christ three days after his crucifixion, has a natural connection to dawn. All four Gospel accounts of Easter mention that it was early morning when a group of women discovered that Christ had risen from his tomb.

"Christians are still commemorating that day and that time as the moment of Jesus' victory over death," said the Rev. Matthew Boardwell, pastor of Life Song Church of Erie and the coordinator of a joint sunrise service in Erie. "To be able to stand together at that moment in the calendar and say together, 'Christ is risen,' is very unifying."

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Six churches in Erie -- Life Song, Impact Rock, Erie United Methodist, Calvary Bible, Northern Ridge Baptist and New Hope Fellowship -- will host a sunrise service at 6:15 a.m. at Erie Community Park, at the intersection of Erie Parkway and County Line Road. Bring lawn chairs or a blanket to sit on and wear warm clothes.

The symbolism of moving from the darkness into the light is another reason for sunrise services.

"The Earth is waking up, and we've gone through these 40 days of Lent (a period of penance and fasting that precedes Easter), and prepared for the light," said the Rev. Carol Lille, co-pastor of Longmont's First United Methodist Church.

The church's 6:30 a.m. "traveling service" starts in the church's chapel, goes outside to the courtyard, then ends in the main sanctuary. A large, white Paschal candle is carried from each site -- literally moving out of the dark.

The annual sunrise service at Bethlehem Lutheran Church in Longmont attracts a "faithful group" each year, said the church's senior pastor, the Rev. Mark Peterson.

"Some folks we don't see all year, and we see them at sunrise," he said.

The church's youth group will lead a sunrise service at 6 a.m. outside the church at 1000 W. 15th Ave.

For the 17th year, Trinity Lutheran Church in Boulder and Shepherd of the Hills Lutheran Church in Gunbarrel will be holding a sunrise service at 6:33 a.m. on the west side of Boulder Reservoir north of Colo. Highway 119 on North 51st Street. Congregants need to bring lawn chairs and blankets and wear warm clothing.

"It's just a beautiful setting to see the mist coming off the lake. As the air is starting to warm up and the geese are starting to fly across the water, the sun comes up," said Trinity's senior pastor the Rev. Mark Twietmeyer.

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